Our hobby is getting pretty popular. How we welcome the coming attraction?

NAY THEE I SAY.

33%

[ 1 ]

I'm going to need more strawman arguments.

0%

[ 0 ]

Nerds are not counterculture.

0%

[ 0 ]

Doing something kind of dorky is not a rejection of "the dominant values and behavior of society".

33%

[ 1 ]

Your answers aren't funny anymore and I need you to turn in your hip hop license.

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[ 0 ]

I have milk that has lasted longer than society's interest in geek culture..

33%

[ 1 ]

BAZINGA

0%

[ 0 ]

Total Votes : 3

USAgent

Posted:
Fri Nov 16, 2012 10:59 am

Professorman Johnson

Joined: 29 May 2007
Posts: 252
Location: The Great USA

I'll say what I always say in these types of situations: The more people getting interested in comics and comic-related media is never a bad thing, and while it's true that their interest may be more casual, that's no crime, either.

That's where we should come in, right? As the old, creepy guard of nerdy culture, should it not fall to us to be teachers to these initiates? What is to be gained by turning them away?

_________________Arguing with the cops is like shaking your fist at God. There's nobody there; and if there is, he's not listening. And if he's listening, all you're doing is pissing him off.

Interesting you should bring this up now. I'm in the process of writing a massive thing about how I'm going to be lonely forever and geeks are doing a-okay being geeks. I think I'll touch on this particular topic a little bit, but maybe not really. But I will let you chumps know when it done anyhow.

There is no reason to turn new geeks away, I suppose. However, I don't believe that many people are genuinely being inducted into geekdom. Geeks are a very specific, obsessive, socially awkward sort of person in my mind and I think people proclaiming to be geeks these days have realized they like a couple of things that geeks normally like (e.g., Star Wars, as though nobody's seen those movies) and, by my standards, that doesn't really cut it.

It's not that I'm protective of geekdom. Quite the opposite, in fact. I sort of hate real geeks (and I recently decided I don't think I can fairly call myself one). I just think the common thing that's happening now of people cheerfully proclaiming they're geeks is bullshit, not necessarily just because they're attractive and/or female (I've seen real-life examples of attractive geeks, female and male) but because I think being a geek also has tied into it all kinds of OCD qualities and social clusterfuckery. I don't think these people who happily label themselves geeks would really want to be geeks if they knew what that entailed and what kind of person that makes you.

The other thing is that it'd be fine to welcome people into geekdom if geekdom was so great and everything geeks liked was great, but I think, like all things, there's really only a few gems in a sea of shit and most of what geeks like (sci-fi, fantasy, anime, comics, video games, et al) is crap just like most TV dramas are crap or most movies are crap. Really, what has to happen is that the best parts of geekdom (like video games) need to increase in quality on the whole so that more of them are good and more of them are worthwhile to more people. So then it won't be about bringing people into the geek fold, but rather just making everything better so that geeks and everyone else likes these things because they're more worth liking. If you can get something to be respected enough by society at large, it won't be about welcoming new geeks, it'll be about making these media so good that the stigma of "geek" will no longer be attached to them. And if this notion pisses off geeks because it's robbing them of their culture, well, I understand that, but, think about it this way: go fuck yourselves. You still have your low-budget sci-fi shows and Buffy and Naruto or whatever the shit so enjoy those and stay in your corner.

Actually I'm starting a video series about this specifically for some website so that'll be fun for all of you. You can't wait.

I am too preoccupied to respond to the whole great big thing you submitted piece by piece like I originally intended so I'll say this.

If you're trying to make friends with someone or a group of people, I can understand pretending to like something to get their attention/fit in. But if you're one of those fucking people that posts about how much you love something you know absolutely nothing about on a social network site, sporting thick-rimmed glasses while declaring how much of a nerd you are I hope you get thrown in a hole full of burning plastic.

_________________Arguing with the cops is like shaking your fist at God. There's nobody there; and if there is, he's not listening. And if he's listening, all you're doing is pissing him off.

The problem is many of us grow up being picked on and teased, and the concept of comic books (or at least their movies) being popular confuses and infuriates us because they just lost our one "sanctuary".

Which is total bullshit. We're just part of a hobby that is now considered, at least, "not lame", and we are throwing a fit because god forbid someone that is physically capable read what we read. We talk of how we hate being picked on and oh god I wish comics were cool, and now they see people talking about Thor and the Hulk and Iron Man and it pisses us off because this is not what we wanted.

WE wanted to be cool. We didn't want COMICS to be cool. We simply wanted the coolness to radiate from US. And we're bitter that it didn't happen that way.

_________________Arguing with the cops is like shaking your fist at God. There's nobody there; and if there is, he's not listening. And if he's listening, all you're doing is pissing him off.

I do agree that geeks want to be cool. At the same time, it's one of those situations where I don't think they REALLY want what they think they want and I wonder if, even if geeks themselves, with their foibles and oddities, were accepted wholesale, would they REALLLLY want that? Don't they kind of love just being "freaks?"

I feel like no matter how much society accepted geekdom, geeks would be forever finding a way to reject the acceptance, claiming normal people were getting it wrong. They think they want to be accepted, but they don't, really. Perhaps they don't want to be bullied, but accepted? I dunno.

I have really enjoyed this topic and wish to let you know that I have met my coherent thought quota on LTM for all of 2012 and most of 2013. Because I just don?t know how to cut a bad idea loose I will return to my original brand of incoherent doubletalking which works for LTM. My unmitigated selfishness is where a lot of the humor comes from.

_________________Arguing with the cops is like shaking your fist at God. There's nobody there; and if there is, he's not listening. And if he's listening, all you're doing is pissing him off.

I played the first Timesplitters and would randomly return to it (last year even) to try and beat all the challenge levels but could never for the fucking life of me do the "I can't hear anyone screaming" one. And then I knew there were more to come after that. Ridiculous.

I went on a silly PS2 kick last year and bought TS2 and 3 also and finished 2 on co-op with my friend. But then I got bored. Sorry. Timesplitters... seems fine though.

And it has that wonderful character who wears a shirt that says "SLUT" on it.

The first was fun to co-op through especially when you had to haul ass to the exit. TS2 levels were disjointed, some seemed to go on forever or had terrible stealth sections, it was a bit boring. The third reached a good balance and turning tough guy Cortez into a socially awkward idiot was brilliant.

The real fun of the game was in the multiplayer modes. 4-player (I have the Gamecube versions of 2 and 3) deathmatch/team deathmatch/virus/CTF/assault and more against CPU bots or split teams was a blast. A maxed out enemy team of monkeys with rocket launchers vs Vin Diesel, the Slut shirt chick, a riot cop and a secret agent in a disco wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.

It's probably my favorite FPS series, the goofy shit in it only makes me like it more. It irks me a bit that bland stuff like Call of Duty and Halo (which is fun with friends) are what sell and get praise while Timesplitters with it's unique character stats, stylish graphics (got to keep that framerate up), humor, map builder and genuinely enjoyable gameplay goes ignored. I'll never understand why a PC version wasn't released, at least then there'd be online play and the chance at an extended after-market life.

The closest game to it I can find is Team Fortress but I'd give that up in a heartbeat for an online version of TS2's muliplayer.

Oh and fuck those challenges, there's only so many windows a person can smash with a few bricks. Always felt great when you cleared one though.

I did play the first TS quite a bit multiplayer in college. I've never even booted 3 up even though I do own it now.

I did really like the zombie challenges where they put you in the house and make you survive. Those always felt like a real challenge and even kind of managed the whole overwhelming doom feel of a zombie movie. Also, there's that one where you can only punch their heads off. Silly, silly.

My friends and I always liked to choose Peekaboo Jones in the first one just to watch him go "Awwww yeah! ....HAH!"

Headshots only...yeah, I remember those. I always tried to stand at the top of a staircase and shoot down at the zombies as they came. You would that would work but, no, damn things just started spawning behind me.

Peekaboo was my go to character when available, disappointed he never showed up again in the later games.

If you find the time, give 3 a go. Co-op is best but solo is still pretty good, you get a partner either way for story reasons. I can't remember if the partners have any non-cutscene dialog in co-op but they talk a bit in single player, it adds some charm. Lots of challenges too but not as difficult as the previous ones.